Post game vs. Sacramento

Well the Sonics became the Sonics again and were wasted at home by the 21-26 Sacramento Kings, a team with its share of issues and chemistry problems, yet the Kings were efficient, hit their shots, pounded the boards and make the Sonics look ragged in front of a sellout crowd. First of all, the Kings are just a bad matchup for Seattle. They have bigs who can create space and actually rebound. They have two guards who can shoot and the wild card is Ron Artest, who can run the point and hit the 3-pointer as well as muscle himself into the lane for easy baskets.

The Sonics played as if they had won the NBA title by breaking their 15-game road losing streak against Indiana. It was embarrassing; the second time in nearly two weeks they have not been competitive at home. What to do? It’s hard to say because the Sonics are not likely to make any major deals by the trade deadline or make any major alterations to their lineup. Luke Ridnour had two assists in just 30 minutes. Earl Watson made one field goal and missed four of five 3-pointers. Mickael Gelabale was ineffective in his return to the bench because of the return of Rashard Lewis. This is a team that simply doesn’t work well together. The bench players are unsure of their minutes. Nobody really knows their roles and defensively, the Sonics have poor stretches where they just don’t even try.

The Kings are a flawed team, evidenced by rumors that management is considering making some trades and rebuilding the franchise. Yet, Sacramento looked crisp Saturday and everything it did seemed to work. The Kings bench scored 37 points and was 13-for-24 from the field compared with 13 points and 4-for-17 from the Sonics. That is a chemistry issue. When is the last time a Sonics’ reserve scored more than 15 points in a non-garbage time situation?

The starters are pressing because they know they don’t have help from the bench. Lewis struggled as expected in his return but he wasn’t the issue. He grabbed seven rebounds with five assists in nearly 37 minutes, not bad. He will improve as his conditioning improves and he said he might play Sunday against the Kings without his protective glove. You wondered how long that thing was going to last if he struggled.

Lewis made a very interesting remark after the game. He said the Kings played with urgency because they are vying for a playoff spot. But shouldn’t the Sonics play with the same if not more urgency? They are the team with an arena at stake and jobs in the balance if they continue to struggle. Club management is not pleased when the Sonics get blown out in front of sellout crowds. And it has happened twice of late. The drum up some support for this arena, the Sonics need to win games and show the local fans they are building toward the future. This performance will not endear anyone to support the new arena.